MDC and CDB Provide Training for Montserrat MSMEs

SALEM – Fifteen Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) on Montserrat are now better equipped to handle the accounting in their businesses, having completed a three week training program in Quick Books. Under the expert tutelage of Mrs Geraldine Cabey representatives of these businesses worked from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays at the Montserrat Community College in an effort to master the basics of QuickBooks.

The course was organized by the Montserrat Development Corporation (MDC) and sponsored by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in an effort to equip MSMEs with the tools to improve the accounting practices on island. Mrs Cabey will be available to provide support to the trainees for a period to time, enabling them to transfer the knowledge and experience gained in the classroom into working practices at their places of business.

Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Premier, Mrs Camile Gerald, was full of praise for the facilitator, Mrs Cabey; the MDC and CDB. It is hoped that in the not too distant future, an advanced course will be hosted in order to meet the varied accounting needs of the MSMEs. Despite the planned closure of the MDC at the end of May, it is hoped that similar programs will continue to be run to meet the needs of the community.

A second program the Servsafe Food Protection Managers Course, concluded a week ago at the Grand View Bed and Breakfast in Baker Hill. It attracted over 30 participants from the food service industry. At the end of the grueling training, participants wrote the ServSafe Food Protection Manager Examination. The test scripts have been submitted to the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation in the USA for grading. Successful participants will receive the Food Protection Manager Certificate, which is valid for a period of five years.

Participants will also be required to develop action plans with the aid of the Certified ServSafe Instructors, designed to upgrade the food safety practices at their establishments. This will be implemented with the assistance of the Ministry of Health which has already undertaken the first of an ongoing inspection of these businesses.